


And Life Goes On

by Br4v3b1rd (Les)



Category: Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Genre: Collected Work, Drabbles, Friendship, Gen, General, Team Sarif Shenanigans, one shots
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-22
Updated: 2013-07-31
Packaged: 2017-12-21 00:48:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 4,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/893847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Les/pseuds/Br4v3b1rd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A variety of short, unconnected drabbles pertaining to the lives of three employees of Sarif Industries and the things they do; unless mentioned, post-game. They vary from a few sentences to a few paragraphs.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. That Damn Coffee Machine

"Jensen, while I’ll agree that the coffee machine is a piece of shit, please stop fussing with it. I’m certain that despite your popularity with most of the company, you’d have a very angry mob to deal with." Pritchard said, as he leaned against the counter, watching the head of security glare daggers at the poor coffee machine. 

Adam scowled at the tech as he muttered obscenity at his coffee cup. Pritchard raised his eyebrow as he snagged the coffee cup out of Adam’s hand and lightly shoved him over. With ease, he got the machine to work, the coffee neatly filling the mug. With a flourish, the tech handed the mug off to Adam, smirking at him.

It was hard for Adam to resist the urge to punch Francis in the face at that moment. But he did.


	2. Video Games

It was summer in Detroit. This normally didn’t change much of anything for the employees of Sarif Industries. But today was one of those rare days off. And two people were enjoying it in the dark, air conditioned apartment belonging to Francis Wendell Pritchard.

Well… enjoying it in a sense.

"Oh for fuck’s sake. Not again." He paused the game as his character was thrown off the stage.

"Well, excuse me for trying to get our opponents of the stage, Frank." Faridah Malik glared at her neighbor as she got up and walked to a table next to the couch. She grabbed a can and popped it before sitting down again. “If you’re going to be such an ass about it, why don’t we change out games or something. Play something different."

He snorted as he shoved the controller down to the floor. “Fine, sure. You know where the games are. Take your pick."

She rolled her eyes and laughed. “You pick it. Then maybe you’ll have a chance of beating me."

"You’re on, fly-girl."


	3. Computer Issues

Adam glowered at the glitched up screen of his office computer. He rarely used it, the most he’d ever done on it was checking his email. So the one time he actually had to use it, of course it was going to give him issues. That was par the course when it came to him and electronics. Even with augments, he had issues with anything that wasn’t hacking into a door, a lock, or a computer. 

Even the coffee machine. Especially the coffee machine.

But that wasn’t an issue today. Today was dealing with this computer, which, now that he thought about it, was probably Pritchard’s doing. The head of cyber security would be eager to mess around with his computer if he’d irritated Pritchard.

Though, this didn’t look like it’d just been hacked. Looked more like a bunch of viruses had been dumped onto the machine.

He rolled his eyes. The technician really did act like a child.


	4. Model Planes

It started out as a silly gift.

Malik’s office was pretty typical when she started her job as a pilot for Sarif Industries. Potted plant, shelves, bland, boring, an office.

It started out as a dumb gift from one of her parents when she was promoted to chief pilot. A Sopwith Camel, according to the box that it came in. It wasn’t until it was a slow day for Sarif Industries that she even bothered to put it together. She wasn’t one for models.

Three weeks later, Pritchard was in her office to repair her computer with the normal grumble of how useless everyone was at keeping their computers virus free when he noticed it sitting on her shelf.

That christmas, thanks to the usual “secret santa" exchange, she ended up with three more. Those, again, were built during the slow days and displayed around her office. This continued for years, with new planes always showing up for christmas and birthdays. It only got worse when Jensen became the head of security and her friend. 

Though, as she was building the latest addition to her collection, a model of her VTOL, she acknowledged how soothing they’d become to build. And how much they added to her office.

She also grinned as she remembered that she’d pulled Frank’s name for the secret santa this year. Last year it had been Jensen.

Payback time.


	5. Glasses

The infolink in his ear crackled as the ever irritating voice of Francis Pritchard came through while he was trying to hack through a door. “Jensen, you did read over that email with the passwords to the door, right?"

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, Francis. I did."

"Then why aren’t you using the passwords? Why are you hacking the door?"

He blinked. That was actually a surprisingly good question. “I don’t know."

"Jensen, you do know you have the codes recorded and you can access them through your glasses."

"Yes, I know."

"Then why aren’t you using them?" The irritation was apparent in Pritchard’s voice.

He shrugged, and tried to activate them. Then he felt along the side of his face. Oh. Well that made sense now. “Apparently, I forgot them. At home."

"How, might I ask, do you forget something that was surgically attached to your head, Jensen?" 

"I figured out how to remove them for sleeping. I must have forgotten to replace them when I woke up." He explained, continuing his work on the door.

He could almost hear the twitching of Pritchard’s eye. “Jensen, when you get back, please meet me in my office." And then the line went dead. Jensen rolled his eyes again and got through the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Inspired by a chat with my friend Sarrie. Very Headcanon-ny)


	6. Family (Dad!Adam)

Family was still a loaded word to Adam. Over the last five years since the Panchea incident, things had certainly changed but the word family was still something important to the head of security.

However, it wasn’t unattainable anymore. Hell, it had, in a way, happened. With Amelia. A tiny, lost girl of about three who he found alone in a building full of thugs in Detroit while getting back some stolen prototypes. At first, he had hoped to find her mother, but after realizing that she had been in a locked room with no windows, that she’d been left there.

With that realization he snuck out of that building with not just the prototypes in hand, but a little girl who’s first words to him were “Are you a policeman?" once he’d gotten down off the roof and set her on the ground. For a young kid, she was rather calm about the entire matter. But in response, he leaned down to ruffle her hair and smiled.

"Once I was."

And with that she grabbed his hand, "Momma always said to trust policemen." 

He bit his tongue on the question of where her mom was. Despite that he’d knocked out most of the gang members, they weren’t out of danger yet. “Well, let’s get out of here, squirt." He said as he scooped her up again and started to travel to his apartment, which was closer than Sarif Industries. He could return the prototypes in the morning.

She smiled. “Imma Amelia! Not squirt."

And that was the start of it. He’d gotten some info out of her, and quickly attempted to track down her mother until he found an article on the burglary of the an affluent woman’s apartment ending with her death and what is presumed to be her young daughter Amelia’s own demise, though no body had been found.

He sighed as he’d found that article. They might have taken her for ransom, despite the fact that apparently there were no surviving relatives to ransom for her safe return. They might have been planning to sell her off.

Whatever they had planned on doing, he had to do something, and that included taking her to the police. He decided to claim that he’d found her wandering around, and acting like she was just a lost child who’s parent he couldn’t find.

Surprisingly, Amelia had followed the cover story with ease. Maybe it was due to the fact all she had said was the truth.

"He found me!" and that was that. 

The police, of course, discovered that there was no family to return her to. They contacted Child Services and at that, Adam remembered what a friend in school had told him about his experience with the adoption/foster care system. He looked at Amelia and decided that she wasn’t going to have to live through that.

With a bit of pushing, he soon started the long process of adopting her. And while she was quite well-behaved for the most part, she had her quirks.

Like making sure that Adam read her a story every night. He’d given up his bed for her at the current moment. All the guns were in the safe behind the TV now. The alcohol and cigarettes were in a high cabinet. 

Slowly, his apartment became quite child friendly. She’d been given half of his room, the other half still his own. 

Francis and Faridah had both shown up one day, after hearing the news. Francis, however, looked like he’d been drug over quite unwillingly. Faridah had said that she’d help him get her a few things like toys and clothes, and she’d brought Pritchard along to watch Amelia, since it’d be easier than dragging her along.

Despite the misgivings of leaving Francis alone with his daughter, Faridah proceeded to drag him off and they came back to him teaching her how to braid.

Despite the dirty look Frank shot him, Adam didn’t stop laughing for days. From then on, they were Aunty Malik (which she pronounced somewhat like a blend between malt and milk) and Uncle Pritch (yet another thing Adam found hard not to laugh at.)

Other things that happened over the years included watching Malik and Pritchard teaching her how to play video games, arts and crafts, the inevitable moving to a bigger apartment, going to a carnival (all four of them), and the start of school.

He still had his job, yes. But he’d found a reliable babysitter in his two friends, a neighbor, and sometimes even Haas.

Things continued on. And he had something to come home to every time. Either something disastrous, like when his neighbor fell asleep and Amelia had cut her own hair, or humorous, like Pritchard again being subjected to her playing beauty parlor.

It wasn’t the most conventional form of family, but it was nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This starts a set of drabbles concerning the Family AU. All were inspired by Shelby of shoob-a-doob.tumblr.com


	7. Movie Night (Dad!Adam)

Sometimes, usually on the weekends, Amelia would grab a movie (normally one of the many Disney movies that he’d obtained various ways) and shove it excitedly in her dad’s face. “Can we watch ‘dis one? And get Aunty Malik and Uncle Pritch over and have popcorn?" She’d ask, and look up at Adam with her blues eyes full of hope and wonder.

It was really hard to say no to her when she did that. Thankfully, Faridah was always easy to convince, and since Francis lived in her building, she always dragged him along. At a later point, he’d learn that after the first two visits, it wasn’t actually that big an issue and if he’d asked, Frank would have come along just fine.

And so Amelia would snuggle up on the couch with her and her beloved stuffed animals, a bird from Faridah dubbed “Beaky", a dragon from Pritchard called “Blaze", and a stuffed husky toy she called “Guard" that Adam had found, as Adam dug through the cabinets for popcorn and soda.

As soon as he found the popcorn and threw it in the microwave, Faridah and Francis would show up and once it was popped, they’d all attempt to fit on the couch, soon moving Amelia to Adam’s lap, with the popcorn between them all and what was left of the soda, normally lemon-lime, on the coffee table as they watched whatever it was that Amelia had picked that night.

It was only when Adam caught himself humming a song over the infolink one Monday while crawling through a vent and heard Pritchard snickering that he muttered “Oh, shut up, Francis. I’m pretty sure Faridah also heard you humming to yourself when you guys left Saturday."

And so between the three of them, they were pretty sure they had most of the major Disney musical numbers memorized.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, inspired by Shelby of shoob-a-doob.tumblr.com


	8. Storytime (Dad!Adam)

Despite the Sentinel RX Health System, Adam could still get sick. It was designed for bullet wounds and lacerations, not the flu that Amelia must have brought home from daycare, miraculously not getting sick herself. So here he was, curled up in a blanket on that god-forsaken couch, with tissues, pills, soda, and a cold bowl of chicken soup.

Despite the dumb comments (mostly Pritchard’s), he was really glad at this point that Francis and Faridah didn’t mind coming over or staying over to help him take care of his daughter. He also was glad that one of them could cook. He hadn’t know this before, and he had yet to figure out which of them was the one who left him soup while he was sleeping. After a point, he didn’t care. He was feverish, tired, and all he wanted to do was sleep and not wake up until it was over.

He closed his eyes and woke up to a hand on his forehead. “Well, I think that fever you had has finally broken, Jensen." Pritchard muttered. He looked at the table. “I’ll go get you some more soup, then I’m leaving. Faridah said she’d be over with Amelia in about ten minutes."

Adam tried to grin. “Wow, Francis. Didn’t know you had a nice bone in your body." 

Pritchard rolled his eyes. “Jensen, don’t flatter yourself. I owed Faridah a favor and she can’t cook much at all. Anyway, good to see that you’re feeling well enough to make wisecracks." He said as he reached over to pick up the bowl. “Hope neither of us get this flu of yours."

"It’s probably already too late." He said, his voice even more gravely due to the disuse of his vocal cords. “In a few days, you’ll be sick."

"How lovely." Pritchard muttered as he walked to the kitchen. Soon, after a warm bowl of soup was put in his hands and a quietly muttered, “Get well," the apartment was empty. But not for long.

The door opened to a bouncing little Amelia followed by Faridah. “Daddy! I brought home a new book! Aunty Malik took me to the library and we went in this little bookstore and I found this book about a cat and some mice and their friendship! Could you read it to me?" She smiled as she ran to the couch, the book held proudly in her arms.

Adam tried to grin as he sat up. “I’d love to, peanut, but I’m not feeling so good right now." As her face fell, he sighed. “How about you read it to me?"

She grinned again. “Really?! I can read it to you, Daddy?" She smiled as Adam took a sip of the soup in his hands.

He swallowed before speaking. “Yes, sweetheart, you can." With all the speed of a four year old, she rushed to grab a chair from the worktable and dragged it to the couch. While she was crawling up on the chair, Faridah snagged another seat across the room, smiling as she watched Amelia open the book as Adam settled back down into the couch.

"Once upon a… " She started, her mouth working hard to pronounce to words that she was reading off the page. Adam smiled again as he watched Amelia try to read the story as he finished the soup.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, all Family AU drabbles were inspired by Shelby of shoob-a-doob.tumblr.com


	9. Apartment Hunting (Dad!Adam)

It was about a year after adopting Amelia that Adam had to admit that it was time to find a bigger apartment to live in. Preferably one with two bedrooms. That couch was awful for his back. 

And so began the search for some place in Detroit that would be in a safe part of town with easy access to Sarif Industries, the daycare, and in an area serviced by a good school.

Easier said than done, certainly.

And once his friends caught word of it, they started hunting too. And also gave him a lecture of what wasn’t a good apartment. He was close to putting his head down and giving up on the entire idea, resigning himself to the couch for the rest of his life if they didn’t shut up soon.

Despite that, soon they all were checking out various leads for a good place in their spare time. Some places seemed great until they looked at the condition of the apartment in question, others seemed sketchy from the get go. Others were perfect, but the rent was too high or the landlord was yet another augment hating ass.

Sometimes Adam really wondered why he tried. Still, they didn’t give up. There even was the suggestion of just pooling money together and buying a house or something. Then none of them would ever have to pay rent again, or worry too much about someone needing to look after Amelia if Adam was on a long mission.

The issue with that was that in close quarters, Adam and Francis were certain that they’d be at each other’s throat within a month and no one really wanted to see them fight through hacking and yelling stuff again.

Faridah just shook her head and tried to move on from that idea. They were running out of options that were in anyone’s budget. 

It had been over three months since Adam had started looking, and by that point, he’d reserved himself to sleeping on that uncomfortable couch for the rest of his life. Instead of moving, he’d just buy a new couch and call it quits.

Then, Faridah found something. It wasn’t an apartment, so she had a feeling that if she didn’t bring them all to show it off, it’d be met with two blank stares of disbelief that she’d even rethink the idea of buying a house.

Dragging the two irritated men to a house tour was easier than she expected, but then again, they both were tired of looking around for a place for Adam and Amelia.

It was a rather big house, with two floors. Enough bedrooms so that they all would have one, and everything else that they’d been looking for in an apartment. She glared at Pritchard as he tried to protest.

She walked over and whispered in his ear, “If you two don’t get along if we all pool our money and buy this house, I swear to god, Frank, you’ll never see half of your electronics again. I will take them out and smash them to bits or sell them on the black market." She threatened. Francis turning white was worth the odd look from Adam when he turned around after looking through the house.

It was the best place they’d ever looked at. The only flaw was being farther from Sarif Industries then Adam would have liked, but it wasn’t the worst thing. He could get a car or something.

Five weeks later was moving day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, all Family AU drabbles were inspired by Shelby of shoob-a-doob.tumblr.com


	10. Moving Day (Dad!Adam)

The last of the cardboard boxes and his furniture that had been spread out around his apartment for weeks were now in the moving van they’d hired for moving three apartments worth of crap to the new place. His place at the Chiron Building had looked eerily like it had when he’d moved in and didn’t unpack for about three years. It at first gave him a bad feeling, but soon, seeing some of the boxes glitter stained reminded him that this time, the move was his choice and something he wanted.

It was a relief to be leaving the Chiron Apartment Suite. The mirror had never been replaced, he could still see the small marks from when he’s thrown broken in-half pencils at the wall when he’d been relearning how to write, and there was that one spot where he’d accidentally shot his silenced pistol. They’d sold that god awful couch yesterday because no one really wanted to put up with it anymore. 

Amelia had been excited when they told her that they were moving to someplace bigger. As Faridah had put it, it would be “More room to run around in and she’d have her aunty and uncle there 24/7."

Adam was pretty sure it was the entire 24/7 part that had gotten her excited. She loved being around her dad and doing silly things with him, but if she could include her honorary aunt and uncle, the better it was. He had a feeling that they’d be drug into even more shenanigans they they had before.

Well, at least they’d stop eating so much takeout and sugary cereal. At least now one person would be able to cook.

Amelia tugged at his coat as Faridah brought around her car. “Daddy. Do I get my own room?"

He smiled. “Yeah, sweetpea. We all have our own rooms now. No more sleeping on the couch for me, and you won’t have my desk and computer in yours." 

"Can we paint my walls?"

"Maybe. Let’s just get there first and let you chose your room."

"Can we get a dog or a cat?"

Adam resisted the urge to just say yes right then. He’d love having a dog around again, but he wasn’t sure they could handle it just yet. That and since they were going to be living with Malik and Pritchard, would require some discussion. “Maybe. Let’s wait a few years, though. Get settled in first."

"Okay! When we do, could we get a hussy?" Adam blanched until he noticed what word she wasn’t pronouncing well.

"That’s a husky, Amelia. Like your dog toy? Guard, right?"

She grinned up at him and bounced up and down. “Yeah! A husk..husky like Guard!" 

Faridah unlocked the side door, and so he scooped her up to put her in the car. “Maybe. Still, come on. We’re leaving."

Pritchard was in the seat next to Faridah, his hands quickly moving over the laptop’s keyboard on his lap, muttering about dumb hackers.

Adam belted Amelia and himself in and closed the door. “Can’t even get a break from work to move, Francis?"

Francis shook his head. “Not the time, Jensen. But yes. I never seem to get a break when I need it."

Adam suppressed a smirk as Faridah started to drive off.

"Hey, Amelia." Faridah said, trying not to cuss out a driver that cut her off.

"Yeah?"

"There’s a gift next to your seat. Just don’t open it in the car."

Adam rolled his eyes. “And just what now are you spoiling my daughter with, Faridah?" He teased.

He could almost hear the smile in her voice. “It’s a surprise, spy-boy."

"And I’m not fond of surprises, fly-girl. You should know that."

"Welllll-" She started and was cut off.

"Do you guys mind not speaking for the of rest the ride?! I’m trying to work and this bumpy road isn’t helping." Francis snarled as a finger slipped.

The rest of the ride was in silence, Amelia plastered to the window, watching the bustle of the city slowly blending into a more residential suburb.

They stopped in front of the house that Faridah had dragged them to five weeks prior.

"Hey, Amelia. We’re home."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All Family AU drabbles were inspired by Shelby of shoob-a-doob.tumblr.com


	11. Spiders

There was motion that he could sense. Adam looked up from his paperwork to be confronted with a spider dangling in front of his face.

It’s safe to say he fell backwards, the chair almost falling to the floor, but instead it was caught by the wall, Adam’s head banging against it. He rushed out of it and glared down at the spider, his arm blade pointing at it.

Then it dropped down to his desk and he bolted.

By the time he’d gotten to the second floor, he’d passed Pritchard, who’d been getting a new cup of coffee.

"Oh for christ’s sake, Jensen. I’ll go kill the damn thing." Pritchard muttered as he started up the steps to the third floor, and Jensen’s office, instead of his own.

When he returned to his lab, he saw Jensen sitting on the couch. “You know, it’s dead now."

Adam got up and gave a wordless nod of thanks before leaving. Pritchard sighed and resisted the urge to put his head on his desk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A two-shot dealing with arachnophobia.


	12. Spiders Part 2

It’s two in the morning. Adam really has no clue why he is up at two in the morning, but he shrugs it off and moves on, grabbing the last clean bowl off of the counter and filling it with Magic Gnome cereal and milk. 

The infolink switches on. Pritchard’s voice comes through. “Jensen, are you up?" He asks. Adam grabs a spoon from the dishrack.

"No Pritchard, I’m not up. It’s two in the morning, what could you need from me?" Adam asked, moving to his room, bowl and spoon in hand.

"Well, I’ve found some gaps in our security cameras and the access info and I’d appreciate it if you went and interviewed some of the employees who’ve had…" As Adam entered his room, he looked over at his bed. That’s when he stop listening to Pritchard and in terror, just looked at his pillow. Two minutes later, he was still standing there. “Jensen, are you even listening to me thi-"

Adam cut off Pritchard. “There. Is. A. Spider. In. My. Bed." He said, taking a pause with each word, stressing them.

There was a sigh over the infolink. “Please tell me you don’t expect me to come over there and kill it for you." Pritchard said.

"No. But if there is suddenly a fire over at the Chiron Building then I have set fire to my bed and I will sleep at the office."

"Jesus Christ, Adam. Calm down, no need to be that violent to it, I’ll be over and get rid of it for you. I swear." Pritchard said and the infolink turned off.

It was about ten minutes later that there was a dead spider thrown away and Pritchard shaking his head. “You’re such a moron, Jensen. Anyway, as I was saying, we have a bit of an issue…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second half of a two-shot dealing with arachnophobia.


	13. Thoughts

Despite the agony of the last few weeks, which seemed to blend into each other, making it feel like it had been just a few nights, Adam had been successful. Well, in a way. He’d found Megan. He saved people from the agony of Darrow’s signal. But, after Malik had flown them home from Panchaea and he’d gotten dropped off at his apartment, it all felt like a waste. He leaned against the door, deactivating the glasses.

Why hadn’t he gone and destroyed Panchaea? The thought had flickered across his mind when he had been given his choices but he’d thought of the innocents on Panchaea. The people who didn’t deserve to die. 

Now he regretted not choosing that. Ending it there and never having to worry about anything again. With a heavy heart, he straightened and started walking to his room.

While crossing the threshold to his room, he stopped as he heard the infolink activate.

"Hey, spyboy. It’s late and all, but do you feel up for a drink?" Faridah asked.

He thought over the offer for a second, but relented. “Yeah, sure. Where do you want to meet up?"

"Me and Frank will be at that little bar near work. See you there."

Well, if anything, he could drown his thoughts in liquor.


	14. Accident

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now containing 100% more sadness

Adam can not breathe. The phone in his hand is dropped on the floor of his apartment and nothing is making sense. He can hear the “Hello?" from the phone, but he is shaking and for once, his calm composure is falling.

An accident. A god damn car accident. Of everything that could have happened… 

He can feel the tears threatening to fall and he pinches the bridge of his nose.

He has to go in to work. Has to go and be there for Faridah. Out of the two of them, he has to put on a strong facade, again.

He takes a breath, pulls on his jacket, and leaves for work.

The TV was left on and Eliza has given way to a local report about a Detroit car accident that had claimed the life of a pedestrian due to a car speeding through a red light.

The office is dead silent. That always gives a sense of doom and gloom, as Sarif Industries is always abuzz with gossip or sports talk, depending on people’s taste. It quickly makes Adam feel as if everyone is staring at him as he walks to the second floor and that makes the entire event almost unsettling. He avoids glancing at the tech lab and turns to walk to Faridah’s office.

He takes a deep breath as he enters the door. She’s leaning against the wall, right hand covering her face.

"Faridah?" He says, voice quite.

She wipes her eyes as she looks up."I… I just. I can’t. I want this to be some awful dream." She mutters, her eyes already glinting with unshed tears.

He nods. There really isn’t anything to say and he opens his arms up and she hugs him.

He doesn’t notice the tears down his own face.

**Author's Note:**

> All drabbles are originally posted to my [Writing Tumblr](http://whywedontletlesliewrite.tumblr.com/)
> 
> [Personal](http://faridahmalik.tumblr.com/)


End file.
